This Saturday in Kansas City, Kan., Invicta Fighting Championships begins its quest to provide female MMA fighters with a “cage of their own.” The promotion’s first all-female card is headlined by a featherweight rematch between former Strikeforce champion Marloes “Rumina” Coenen and French standout Romy Ruyssen.

Invicta FC is North America’s first all-pro, all-female MMA organization since Fatal Femmes Fighting staged four events in California from 2007 to 2008. The inaugural Invicta FC card features fighters who will be well-known to the viewing audience, as well as other prospects and rising stars who are looking to make names for themselves in their biggest fights to date.

Coenen (19-5) and Ruyssen (5-1) first faced off in August 2008 in Switzerland. Ruyssen spent much of the bout on top in Coenen’s guard and later in side control while Coenen worked for a variety of submissions from the bottom. Coenen was eventually able to trap Ruyssen in a fight-ending rear-naked choke late in the second round, but Ruyssen – who had just one pro bout at the time – put on a solid performance in defeat.

Coenen went on to capture the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight championship from Sarah Kaufman in 2010 and made one successful defense of her title before losing the belt to Miesha “Takedown” Tate this past July. Coenen was subsequently released from Strikeforce and now moves back up to 145 pounds for the rematch with her French adversary.

Ruyssen has racked up four straight wins since the loss to Coenen, with all four coming by first-round submission. The 22-year-old earned a Strikeforce contract with a quick armbar submission of Sheila “The German Tank” Gaff in 2010, but the promotion did not make use of her prior to its purchase by Zuffa this past year. Ruyssen now makes her North American debut under the Invicta FC banner and looks to upset Coenen in the rematch.

The co-feature on the Invicta FC 1 card pits Jessica Penne (8-1) against fellow Bellator veteran Lisa Ellis-Ward (14-7) in a 105-pound atomweight bout. Penne has not fought since earning an impressive first-round submission victory in November 2010, but she has been active outside of MMA competition. In September, she traveled to Japan and upset two-time Girls S-Cup champion Rena Kubota in a shoot-boxing match. Penne trains with some of the sport’s top coaches and training partners at Reign MMA, Kings MMA and Checkmat BJJ in California.

Ellis-Ward is one of the most experienced female fighters in MMA. She has competed in four different weight classes, including bouts at bantamweight, and was a semifinalist in the 2010 Bellator 115-pound women’s tournament. The veteran submission specialist has finished 10 of her professional opponents and has battled many of the sport’s best. She has not fought at 105 pounds since a June 2009 DEEP title bout with Miku “Supernova” Matsumoto in Japan, but a win over Penne would put Ellis-Ward back among the top contenders in the division.

The remainder of the debut Invicta FC card features veterans of EliteXC, Strikeforce, Bellator and Fatal Femmes Fighting, as well as the MMA debut of 2008 Olympic bronze-medalist wrestler Randi Miller.

Top flyweight prospect Jessica “Evil” Eye (7-1 MMA, 2-0 BFC) won for the fourth time in as many bouts on Friday night at Bellator 66 in Cleveland. Eye took a clear-cut unanimous-decision victory over late replacement Anita “El Tigre” Rodriguez (5-3 MMA, 0-1 BFC) in a 131-pound catchweight contest. Rodriguez replaced Eye’s original opponent, Aisling Daly, who withdrew due to an ear infection.

Eye controlled the early striking exchanges with jabs and leg kicks, and she was able to take Rodriguez’s back after reversing a takedown attempt. Eye looked to set up a rear-naked choke and later landed elbows from the top in half-guard. The fighters were stood up, and both landed hard right hands. Eye put her opponent on the defensive with more punches, but Rodriguez scored a late takedown and struck from the top.

Rounds two and three were contested on the feet, and Eye continued to outstrike Rodriguez with jabs, right hooks and a varied arsenal of kicks. Rodriguez clinched on two occasions, but Eye managed to punch her way free, and she continued to mix up her strikes. Eye remained in control until the final bell, and all three judges scored the fight 30-27 in her favor.

The talented 25-year-old Eye remains one of the most popular fighters in her native Ohio, and she now has eyes on capturing Bellator gold when the promotion begins its 125-pound women’s tournament early next year.

In pre-fight trash talk leading up to the 115-pound bout, Vidonic labeled Herrig as a “peacock with pretty feathers” who’s all looks and no talent. Herrig responded with arguably the best performance of her career and dominated on the feet and on the ground through three rounds.

The opening round was the most even of the fight. Herrig scored with early kicks and a combination of punches that prompted Vidonic to clinch for a takedown. Herrig defended and landed more punches. Vidonic clinched a second time, and both fighters landed knees. Herrig took Vidonic down and stayed on top until Vidonic swept late in the round. Herrig reversed right back and regained top position before the bell.

From then on, the fight was all Herrig. She took down Vidonic multiple times and controlled the fight with strikes on the ground. When Vidonic stood, she was met by more punches and more quick takedowns. Vidonic attempted an armbar from the bottom in round two and a kimura in round three, but Herrig mounted her and closed out the fight with punches and elbows from Vidonic’s guard.

Scores were 29-28 and 30-27 twice for Herrig, who returns to her winning ways after a tough loss to Carla Esparza in December. Vidonic has now dropped back-to-back fights after winning six in a row.

Letourneau opened the fight with a head kick, but Gadelha took her down and struck from the top. Letourneau used an omoplata attempt to fight back to her feet, where she landed knees to the body. Gadelha rocked her with punches and ended the round strong with another flurry that kept Letourneau on the defensive.

Gadelha scored more takedowns in round two, but she was unable to do much damage from the top and had to fight off another omoplata attempt. Letourneau opened a cut above Gadelha’s eye, but it did not deter the Brazilian from taking down Letourneau once more before the end of the close round.

Gadelha managed to get Letourneau down again in round three, but her offense slowed, and Letourneau took advantage by kicking her off. On the feet, Letourneau landed a flurry of punches and a hard kick to the body. Gadelha tripped her to the mat, but it was Letourneau who was the more active fighter on the ground with submission attempts and elbow strikes.

The judges were divided in their verdict after the fight. One saw the close bout 29-28 for Letourneau while the remaining judges returned scores of 30-27 and 29-28 for Gadelha, who took the split-decision victory. The bout marked only the second time that Gadelha had gone the distance in her career. Five of the 23-year-old’s wins have come by way of submission.

Moras stops Pena at Conquest of the Cage

Sarah “Cheesecake” Moras (2-0) entered hostile territory this past Thursday but emerged victorious at Conquest of the Cage 11 in Airway Heights, Wash. The Kelowna, B.C. fighter, who trains at the same Toshido MMA gym that produced UFC welterweight star Rory MacDonald, handed Julianna “The Venezuelan Vixen” Pena (3-1) the first loss of her professional career in front of Pena’s hometown friends and supporters.

Despite a two-year hiatus from competition, Moras showed no signs of ring rust in the short-notice 140-pound catchweight bout. Both she and Pena controlled portions of the fight with punches from top position on the ground, and Moras landed some of her best strikes when she secured a top-side crucifix and scored with punches and elbows.

In the second round, Moras trapped Pena in an armbar and wrenched back on the arm as Pena’s elbow began to pop. Pena refused to submit and continued to fight on until the end of the round, but her arm was clearly damaged from the submission hold. The cageside doctor waved off the fight, giving Moras the TKO victory at the 5:00 mark of round two. She remains unbeaten in her MMA career.

Quick results

Tonya “Triple Threat” Evinger (10-6) def. Lacie “Vixen” Jackson (1-2) by KO (punch) at the 1:47 mark of round one at Fight Me MMA on April 13 in St. Charles, Mo. As the fighters’ records might suggest, this brief bout was a severe mismatch, and Evinger finished off her teenage opponent with a counter right hook after appearing to toy with her for the opening minute.

On the same Fight Me MMA card, Jessica “Raising Havoc” Halverson (3-1) def. Nikita Netjes (0-1) by TKO (punches) at the 1:04 mark of round one. This bout also was a one-sided affair. Netjes shot in for a series of takedowns early, but Halverson easily stayed on her feet and punished Netjes with punches and hammerfists. Netjes fell, and Halverson moved to mount. She teed off with punches until the fight was mercifully stopped.

Christine Stanley (1-0) def. Leah Barfield (0-1) by TKO (punches) at the 29-second mark of round one at Native Fighting Championship 12 on April 13 in Campo, Calif. Stanley overwhelmed her opponent with strikes right from the opening bell en route to the quick victory.

Also at PFC 4, Tevi Say (4-2-1) def. Jenna “Valkyrie” Rea (0-1) by submission (triangle choke) in round one. Say had not fought since a November 2008 loss to Aisling Daly but had little trouble dispatching Rea, who was unbeaten as an amateur.

“Rowdy” Bec Hyatt (2-1) def. Daniela “Disko” Marjanovic (0-1) by technical submission (rear-naked choke) at the 21-second mark of round one at Australian Fighting Championship 3 on April 14 in Melbourne, Australia. With the quick victory, Hyatt has won back-to-back fights this year after suffering a highlight-reel head-kick KO loss in her October pro debut.

Meg Gallagher (1-0) def. Sarah Morrison (0-2) by unanimous decision at “Shamrock Events: Night of Mayhem 4″ on April 14 in Dandenong, Victoria, Australia. Gallagher made a successful pro debut with the win. Morrison has come up short in both of her fights this year.

Kamila Balanda (1-1) def. Hatice Ozyurt (1-1) by submission (rear-naked choke) at the 1:53 mark of round three at Respect Fighting Championship 7 on April 21 in Essen, Germany. The victory got Poland’s Balanda on track after she was stopped by Russian prospect Yana Kunitskaya in her November 2010 debut.

Avery “Psycho” Vilche (4-6-1) def. Maria “The Real Deal” Andaverde (1-2) by submission (armbar) at the 1:54 mark of round one at “Rogue Fights: Night of Champions” on April 21 in Redding, Calif. Vilche has won two of her past three fights after a four-fight losing skid.

Kinberly Tanaka Novaes (1-1) faces Adriana Vieira (1-0) at “Nitrix: Champion Fight 11″ on May 5 in Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Novaes is coming off of a decision win at the previous Nitrix event in February. Vieira won her pro debut by decision in November.

Lena “Hunter” Ovchynnikova (8-1) faces Joanne Calderwood (1-0) at Super Fight League 3 on May 5 in New Delhi, India. Ovchynnikova suffered her first pro defeat at SFL 1 in March, but she holds six wins by submission. Calderwood is a talented striker who stopped Noellie Molina in Scotland’s first professional female MMA bout in February. This event streams live and free on YouTube.

Katie Klimansky-Casimir (1-0) faces Melissa Steele (0-3) at Long Beach Fight Night 14 on May 6 in Long Beach, Calif. The recently married Casimir returns to action for the first time since earning a quick submission victory in her November 2010 pro debut. Steele is still in search of her first pro win after falling to tough opponents in each of her first three fights.

MMAjunkie.com publishes the Women’s MMA Report every other Monday. Its author, Robert Sargent, is a veteran MMA journalist who also runs MMARising.com. Feel free to email us at news [AT] mmajunkie.com with any questions, news tips or suggestions.

From Our Partners

The Latest

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is probably the greatest female fighter on the planet, which is a tremendous feat. So why are we seemingly so obsessed with arguing about whether she could beat up men?